Twilight's Rising
by KyoFoxe
Summary: A story following the end of Twilight Princess. Zant had a brother, and with power far stronger than his, he will get rid of any in his way to cover the world of light in Twilight.
1. Prologue

It is a peaceful time in Hyrule. Two months have passed since Link, with the help of Zelda and the Twilight Princess, Midna, defeated Ganondorf and Zant. For the first few weeks after Midna returned to the Twilight Realm and shattered the Mirror of Twilight, Link had kept to himself when he returned to Ordon, not speaking much to anybody. Everybody worried, but Ilia knew what he was sad about. Once, she had gone into Link's house when he had been out, to find a drawing. It was a drawing of a beautiful woman, and at the bottom, it said one word. Midna. Link had come in while she was still looking at the drawing and sighed. Ilia knew that the woman in the picture, apparently named Midna, was somebody close to him that he missed. Little did they know that Midna would soon be returning to the world of light.

As in the world of light, it had been a time of peace in the Twilight Realm. Midna sat on her throne each day, bored with her responsibilities. That is, she was bored when she wasn't thinking of the world of light, and Link. A month after she had returned, she learned that Zant had a brother, named Zyx. She found Zyx to be very disloyal to her, and more recently, completely rebellious towards her. Midna didn't know what Zyx was planning, but she did know that something bad was about to happen to the world of light. What Zyx was planning was almost a repeat of his brother's failed attempt. He was planning…Twilight's Rising.


	2. Betrayal and Changes

Zyx walked into Midna's throne room and looked up at her. "Midna, do you know why I have been so rebellious and despising towards you? It is because of one reason. You killed my brother, just to regain your stupid place of power!" he yelled, fury in his voice.

Midna laughed. "Do you even know how much of what you just said is false? I did not kill him to regain my power. I killed him because he robbed me of my body, left me as an imp, and forced me to run to the world of light! When I killed him, I saved our tribe from becoming monsters and the entire world of light from being engulfed in a dark hell." She said, grinning.

Zyx laughed menacingly just before saying, "But, did you know that I was given the same power my brother was? Or maybe that I've been getting stronger with that power with every passing day?! If you love that world of light so much, then I should send you back!" Zyx raised his arms and a dark orb began to grow rapidly between his hands. He threw it at Midna before she had a chance to react and was flung through the wall behind her throne, passing out before she plummeted into the dark spiral at the bottom of the Twilight Realm.

Meanwhile, back in the world of light. . . It was time for the annual Ordon Festival. Every year during the festival, the people of Ordon have three days to relax, and have a good time. The best part of the festival this year was all the people that were invited. Almost everybody that Link had met during his travels throughout Hyrule was there. Everybody was astonished when even Princess Zelda showed up for the festival. Link ran up to her, and said, "So you were able to make it!"

She nodded. "Yes. And I'm glad I was. I needed a bit of time away from the castle." Link laughed and looked around at everybody enjoying themselves. He was surprised when Prince Ralis of the Zoras had shown up. He hadn't actually been expecting him to be able to make it. He noticed that the children were talking to anybody from Kakariko that had come, such as Barnes and Renaldo.

He sighed, relaxed, until he heard somebody mention a wolf that had frequently been in Kakariko two months ago. He tried to ignore the conversation until he finally couldn't, because apparently, everyone that was there had seen the wolf before, and were now talking about it. He stood up and ran over to the vines on the side of the platform beside one of the houses and climbed up, sitting on the edge. He looked up and gasped as he saw two objects hurtling through the sky straight towards the people in the town. Everybody started to pay attention to him as he quickly ran over to the tall vines and got to the top of the tallest tree in the town. Zelda had already seen the two objects, so she knew what Link was doing. Link waited for the right moment, and when it came, he took a running start down the branch he was on and leaped, barely catching the first object and taking a long fall, to finally land in the stream. He looked down at what he had just caught and suddenly he felt as though he could barely breathe. It was Midna, and she was an imp again. "B-But how?" he asked quietly. Midna was still passed out, so there was no reply. He stood up and turned, everybody looking at the Twili imp he was holding. He looked up again and saw that the other object was still coming, and it seemed to be headed straight towards Zelda. He ran over to the children and set Midna down in front of them. "Keep her safe." He said, as he turned and ran towards Zelda, the object getting closer and closer. As he got right next to her, Midna started to wake up and saw what Link was doing. Link moved Zelda out of the way just before the object, which he recognized as a Dark Crystal, hit her. Instead, it hit him with a loud thud, embedding itself into his chest…into his heart.

Midna saw this and screamed in her Twili language, "Link, no!!" Link yelled in pain as he fell to the ground, everybody huddling around him as he already began to change. The dark fur was already spreading across his body, while his face was pushing out into a lupine muzzle. Midna flew over to Link, watching with wide eyes as he changed before her eyes, the one thing she never wanted to happen to him again. As Link lay there, his body shifted to a quadruped stance as his hands and feet shrunk into paws, his nails changing into sharp claws and his stance shifting to digitigrade. As the changes continued, Link's ears moving to the top of his head and forming to a point, everybody began to recognize the beast he was becoming as they saw the face of the wolf from two months before. His clothes burst into blocks of twilight matter and disappeared before a snap was heard as a long, bushy tail shot out from behind Link to finish the changes. Everybody but Zelda was in complete awe and shock that Link had been the wolf all along. Link had passed out halfway through the changes, so he just lay there, unconscious, as Midna sat next to him, crying.


	3. Regrets

Link woke up several hours later, already realizing both the unfamiliarity and familiarity of his new body at the same time. He looked at the similar wolf body and lupine muzzle that stuck out from his face. It was after that when he noticed where he was. He was in his house, and Midna was lying beside him, asleep. He meant to poke her with his muzzle to wake her, but hesitated as he heard his friends enter his home. He looked down at whoever came in from the height of his bed, and saw the children. They all looked up at him and waved before beginning to climb up the ladders to get to him. Link took this time to try and wake Midna, poking her with his muzzle a few times before she finally stirred and woke up, stifling a yawn. She looked around in slight confusion and then realized where she was. She sighed and looked at Link as the children finally reached the bed. "So I'm guessing you would all like to know how Link came to be the wolf you see before you?"

Colin was the first to speak. "Yes…especially since I know he's saved us in this form more than once. Back when the dark creatures attacked Kakariko, I saw the ghostly outline of a wolf moving around Renado's hut. When I looked closer at it, the outline disappeared. That was you, wasn't it, Link?" Link nodded slowly, beginning to think of everything he had done as a wolf.

Talo was the next of them to talk. He had been looking at Midna this entire time, curious about the Twili imp. "So who are you? How do you know Link?"

"My name is–" Midna was about to reply, but was interrupted by Ilia.

"Midna. Her name is Midna."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know it because it's your fault that Link has been quiet and has been keeping to himself for over a month! He never spoke your name, but after a while I found this…" she said, showing the drawing of Midna in her true form. Link growled at Ilia because she had been going through his things without asking him. Ilia didn't flinch, didn't even take her cold stare away from Midna's face. She stood up and went back down the ladders, slamming the door on the way out. Midna sighed and looked at the rest of the children, then back at Link, who had a look of regret in his blue eyes.

Talo began to speak again. "Midna, why is Link like this? Has this happened to him before?"

"Yes, yes it has. Link is a wolf right now because as you saw earlier, a dark object embedded itself into him. That object was a Dark Crystal. Because Link is a hero chosen by the goddesses, he becomes a divine beast, a blue-eyed wolf, whenever he is exposed to the dark magic of the Twilight from my realm. A Dark Crystal is pressurized twilight energy that can have a serious effect on those from the world of light. I actually happen to still have the Crystal that Zant originally used on Link; and after we retrieved it from Link's body, he could freely change at any time."

Malo and Beth both looked at Midna, a small look of confusion on their faces. "If that's true, then couldn't you use that crystal to change Link back?" Beth asked.

"Because it's too risky…I don't know what it'd do to him with that other crystal embedded inside him." Just then, Link heard the door open again and immediately knew who it was by scent.

"Midna, you at least have to try, for Link's sake. After all, it's nearly impossible to retrieve the Master Sword again after we returned it." Princess Zelda said from the bottom floor, looking up at all of them.

"W-What happened to the Master Sword?" Midna asked, some fear in her voice.

"Well, you see, after you left us, Link and I went to return the Master Sword to the Sacred Grove. After we had returned the sword to the pedestal and left the grove, the entrance sealed itself off, making it basically impossible to get back inside. Well, that is, if you can't warp in. If you're still able to warp, then you could easily get inside." The children were paying attention to everything that was said, trying to make sense of it all, especially when the concept of warping came up.

"At the moment, I'm too weak to do much besides store items as Twilight Matter inside me…"

Malo finally spoke up. "So basically, you've no way of getting to this sword at the moment, so why don't you try the crystal?"

"Because like I said…it's too risky…"

Zelda sighed. "Midna, I know it's a big risk, but you have to try. You make it so obvious of just how much you care about him sometimes." It was possible to actually see Midna blushing at that moment, but it was much different from the way a human would blush, because of her dark skin and Twili body.

"I guess I could try it…" Link looked at Midna, a small flash of fear visible in his eyes as Midna summoned the Dark Crystal, the black and orange object floating above her palm. She reached out and touched Link with it. With a chilling howl and a scream of horror, Link turned into Twilight Matter and disappeared, leaving a second Dark Crystal behind.


End file.
